


Scales and Arpeggios

by CrzyFun



Series: Cat of a Different Color [10]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Cat Puns, Episode: s01e09 Crystal Venom, Genderfluid Character, Multi, genderfluid blue lion, takes place during the comics, the lions are cats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2017-09-25
Packaged: 2018-12-18 08:36:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11870607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrzyFun/pseuds/CrzyFun
Summary: While Allura's resting from the Balmeran ceremony, the paladins go on a training mission. Meanwhile, the cats run into an old friend and see an enemy.





	1. Fur Real

**Author's Note:**

> Spoiler warning for the V:LD Vol. 1 comics. Like massive. As in, there is a spoiler in this chapter for the ending of issue 5. So if you haven't read the comics yet and still plan to, you might want to do that first before moving on with this story. On the other hand, I'm 95 percent sure reading the comics is not necessary for understanding the story. So if you don't care about spoilers, carry on!
> 
> Side note: Sorry this took so long. It was a mix of IRL issues and waiting on season 3 to come out before finalizing certain things for season 2. On the bright side, certain things are going to happen during the "Crystal Venom" chapter that I hadn't planned on bringing up so soon originally but season three's finale really hit the nail on the head.

“Careful Merla,” Keith called as the cheetah dodged around their opponent's blade. He ran forward and locked blades with the robot. Using the distraction, Merla jumped onto its back, holding on with her dewclaws as she tripped it up with her hind legs. As soon as it hit the ground, she darted away and Keith made the final blow.

Merla panted as the Gladiator deconstructed. <Again?>

Keith nodded and called out, “Start trai-”

“End training sequence.” The two turned to see Shiro standing in the doorway, Ryou peeking over his shoulder. “We’re getting ready to leave for Coran’s training. Get cleaned up and meet us at Allura’s room.”

“Right.”

Once Keith was showered and both armored up, they met the others by Allura’s door. The princess was still laid up after the ceremony at the Balmera so she was staying at the castle while they were gone. Coran was already with her when they came inside.

“Hey gorg-” Lance began before Shiro shoved his shoulder.

“Morning, Princess. We all came to say goodbye before we leave.”

Pua gently stepped onto the bed to nuzzle Allura’s cheek and she chuckled. “I’ll miss you too, Yellow.”

“Is there anything we can get for you before we leave, Princess?” Coran asked.

The princess sat up slowly. “Coran, I am _fine_. I needn’t be doted upon like a-” She cut off with a gasp and fell back onto her pillows. “All right, perhaps I am a _bit_ off-color.”

“Returning life to an entire Balmera is nothing to sneeze at,” Coran said, pulling her blankets back up.

“Take your time and rest up,” Shiro said, stepping forward. “We’ll only be gone for a day or so.”

“And where are you going again?”

“Coran says he’s going to take us to some kind of training grounds,” Hunk explained.

“Should be real exciting,” Keith said, less than enthusiastic.

Merla couldn’t help but agree. Between Allura’s weapon test, Coran’s blind flight, and the invisible maze, the Alteans didn’t exactly have the best track record when it came to training humans.

“Yeah, relax princess,” Lance said, leaning over her. “You won’t be missing anything. Except me.” He winked and did a finger gun.

Blue huffed and grabbed his paladin’s arm, dragging him out of the room as Allura groaned, “Now I _am_ ill.”

The rest of the paladins said their goodbyes as Lance shouted at Blue from the hallway.

* * *

“The Fripping Bulgogian!”

Coran led the paladins and three of the cats into the tavern, or nunvillary as Coran called it, but Blue stopped Merla from following. <We’ll stay out here and keep watch,> he called to Ryou.

The liger nodded and disappeared inside.

Blue turned to Merla, who looked away from her love. <You’ve been avoiding me,> he said.

<No I haven’t. We sat together just this morning during breakfast.>

<With Keith and Lance sitting nearby. You’ve been avoiding being alone with me.>

Merla ducked her head.

<We need to talk about this at some point, love.>

<Do we really though?>

<Merla.>

<There’s nothing to talk about.>

<You’re paladin is Galra.>

<Half.>

<That’s something to talk about.>

Merla growled and jumped up to lay on her metallic form’s paw. Blue followed and curled up around her.

<You said he doesn’t know?>

< _Liva_ left just after he was born and his so-called father and Shiro never knew, > she said. <He has a Galra dagger, but he doesn’t know what it means. As far as he’s concerned, the Galra symbol on it is just fancy decoration.>

<Could Shiro know? If he’s seen the dagger…>

<I doubt it. Akira gave the blade to Keith when he was little, inside a box with a few of Liva’s things, but Keith only started carrying the blade around after Shiro disappeared. As far as I know, Shiro never messed with the box out of respect and Keith keeps it wrapped up to protect the design so Shiro probably hasn’t seen it.>

Blue chuffed and nosed Merla’s snout. <He looks pretty human for a hybrid.>

<Liva!> Merla spat and her armored claws scratched against their perch. <She gave him something -- dark magic -- that changed his appearance. He didn’t look this human when he was born.>

<She used _dark magic_ on him! No wonder you hate her so much, > he growled, his own claws flexing out and in. If anyone ever tried to use dark magic on Lance… <Are you ever going to tell him?>

Merla pressed into her love. <I… I don’t know. With everything going on… The paladins can’t have secrets. Once Keith knows, the others won’t be far behind. I don’t know how the others will react and I just can’t risk that. Everyone will have to know eventually -- especially considering… I just don’t think any of them are ready, not right now.>

<I understand,> Blue growled softly.

As they sat in comfortable silence and began to relax, they suddenly realized the slight distress coming from their paladins. They both looked up at the tavern.

<What do you think is happening in there?> Merla purred.

<Don’t know. Should we go in?>

They watched the entrance for a few moments.

<Naw, they don’t seem scared enough to be in danger. Keith probably just picked a fight,> Merla said, tucking her head over Blue’s. <As much as I love a good bar brawl, I’d rather stay like this.>

He chuffed and laid down, curling closer to her.

* * *

<Well this is…> Pua’s nose scrunched up. <No, I’m sorry. This place is a pigsty.>

<Is Pidge even old enough to be in here?> Chip asked, baring her teeth at a group of wolf-like aliens that were staring at her paladin.

<Are _any_ of our paladins old enough to be in here, aside from Shiro? > Pua added, nervously looking at a pair of bartenders sending the cats considering looks.

<I’m not even sure Chip’s old enough to be in here->

<Hey!>

<\- so just stick close to your paladins,> Ryou said, snapping at a muscular blue alien that tried to touch Chip while she was distracted.

<Uh, guys.>

The two turned at Pua’s call to see Coran picking a fight with a trio of aliens, Shiro and Keith looking ready to back him up.

“… Names in red, green, blue, yellow, and black. Five assigned seats, and none of them is for you,” Coran snapped, leaning into the face of the largest of the three, as the cats came to their paladins’ sides.

“Yeah?” the brute growled, standing up. Shiro and Ryou both stepped forward, though they went ignored. “Who’s they for?”

“The Paladins of Voltron!”

The aliens jumped at the new voice and fled, the large one calling out, “Wuh-oh. Time to cheese it, fellas!”

<Chickens,> Chip called.

“Well I’ll be a wabble’s plonk! Kythylian Mu!” Coran greeted the large, armadillo-like, blue alien that came up to the Altean.

“Coran, Coran the Gamblin’ Man.” The alien pulled Coran into a hug.

<Do you smell that?> Pua whispered to Chip.

The leopard sniffed the air and gave a soft growl. <Anodites! It smells like salmon and shrimp!>

<We shouldn’t.>

The two shared a look then slowly slipped away from the group, following their noses. They tracked the scent to a pair of Nyx snacking on what appeared to be a roasted turkey with four-wings and eight-legs.

<That looks delicious.>

<I want one.>

<We don’t have money.>

<Quiznak! How mad do you think Ryou would be if we just->

<I’m going to just stop you there, Chip.>

<You’re no fun… Merla would help me.>

<You both are terrible.>

<And you and your brothers are boring.>

<Is that so?>

The two spun around to find their leader standing over them.

<Oh, uh, hey, Ryou. You need something?> Chip asked, her tail twitching rapidly.

He glared down at the two. <What are you doing?>

<Contemplating the pros and cons of stealing food.>

<Pua!>

<What? You want to lie to him?>

Chip glared at the lion, then ducked her head. <Fair.>

<No stealing, especially not food,> Ryou huffed and shoved the two. <Now come on. If you two hadn’t been messing around you’d know we have a mission.>

<Seriously? I thought we were supposed to be training. What happened?>

Ryou sighed and turned to lead the two back to where the paladins were heading towards the exit. <Apparently Coran left some debts unpaid before falling asleep for ten thousand years so we need to go get a Yalexian Pearl to pay off his debts.>

<Ugh! That again!> Pua whined.

<Oh man! Does this mean we get to go back to see Zylin?> Chip chirped.

<Maybe.>

“Aw, look at them!”

The three looked over to see the paladins staring at Merla and Blue, who were curled up together asleep atop the Red Lion’s paw.

Growling, Ryou stomped over to the two. <Can any of my pride-mates be professional?>

“What are you up to, Ryou?” Shiro called.

<WAKE UP!> the liger roared from outside the particle barrier.

The tiger and cheetah scrambled to their feet.

<You two were supposed to be guarding the lions.>

<We were! We were just… astral projecting! Right, love?>

<What in the Anodites is astral projecting?>

<Merla!>

* * *

<This is ridiculous!>

<Be quiet.>

<She kind of has a point. Why can’t we just rescue Coran from this Mu guy?>

<Neither you nor Merla have room to complain. You both are going to be in big trouble once this is all over.>

<What are you going to do, ground us?>

<Don’t push me, Merla.>

<Anyways,> Chip cut in, trying not to laugh for fear of Ryou’s wrath. <Should we give our humans a hand?>

<Yeah, I could just tell->

<No,> Ryou cut off Merla. <Coran made a point to make it seem like this is something that hasn’t been done before. Poorly, but still.>

<Seriously? Why?>

<No idea, but for now we’ll just go with it. Coran’s not an idiot.>

<Not completely anyways,> Chip muttered.

<Come on, he can be forgetful sometimes, but he is pretty smart,> Pua said. <You guys shouldn’t be s- OH QUIZNAK!>

<Pua!>

_“It’s got me!”_

_“Fire!”_

<Careful! Don’t hit Pua!>

_“It’s outer shell is too strong for the lasers!”_

<I don’t care if you hit me -- I can take it -- just get this thing off my leg!>

_“I think it’s gonna tear my leg off!”_

<Keep calm, Pua.>

_“I’m coming!”_

<Thanks Ryou.>

_“This thing’s armor is too strong for our weapons!”_

_“Our armor isn’t too strong for it! Another second and I would have been a leg without a leg!”_

<Tell me about it.>

_“If it can chop through Hunk’s armor, the rest of us are cooked.”_

_“I think we know what we need to do.”_

_“FORM VOLTRON!”_

{Engaging Voltron Interlock. Red and Green Lions connected. Blue and Yellow Lions connected. Black Lion Faceplate released. Voltron Interlock engaged. Engaging Voltron Shield. Voltron Shield engaged.}

_“Split it open, Keith!”_

{Red Bayard inserted. Scanning. Red Paladin Keith Bayard operation accepted. Weapon formed.}

<Take this you- Language! Eat Dwylip! Focus!>

_“So maybe we should just leave?”_

<Tactical retreat?>

_“We can’t. We’re the only thing standing between that monster and those houses.”_

<Point. Bad point. Merla! Live near beast. Probably prepared. Love’s right.>

_“We don’t have any weapons strong enough to hurt it.”_

<Better point. Hush!>

_“We need some of those shoulder blades it used on Hunk.”_

<I studied the bla- NOT NOW CHIP!>

_“That’s it! I know how to beat it. Put the shield away. We’ll have to do this just with the sword.”_

<What thinking? Epicness!>

_“I hope you know what you’re doing!”_

{Disengaging Voltron Shield. Voltron Shield disengaged.}

_“Get ready!”_

<Hahahahahahaha! Merla…>

_“On my mark, push down and in with everything we’ve got. Ready? PUSH!”_

<Victory!>

_“Nice work, Keith!”_

_“That’s the way to use your opponent’s strength against him.”_

_“Sharp work, samurai.”_

<Aw! How cu- Don’t.>

_“Do you think that was the yalex?”_

<Nope.>

_“I don’t see any pearls.”_

<Oh look. Tiny bugs. Giant bugs. Big as human children. Sweet.>

_“Looks like the welcome wagon is here.”_

“What happened? Oh no! The Guardian has been slain!”

_“Guardian?”_

<Oh no.>

{Red Bayard ejected. Weapon deconstructed.}

_“Did that guy just say Guardian?”_

{Disengaging Voltron Interlock. Voltron Interlock disengaged.}

_“We’d better land and find out what he means. But good job working together on that monster that attacked us.”_

_“Maybe you should be saying, ‘Great job, Lance.’”_

<Excuse me?>

“What are you talking about? I’m the one that formed sword.”

<My sword!> Merla hissed, phasing out of her metallic body to prowl next to her paladin.

“Oh, plugging in a bayard, real hard!” Lance scoffed. “I coordinated a complex pivoting movement with a mechanical, leg-shaped lion!”

<All things considered, I’m pretty sure that means we did all the heavy-lifting,> Pua pointed out, nudging his sister.

“How hard can that be? Hunk flies a leg.”

“Hey!

<Excuse me!>

<Love, mind your cub!>

“Sorry. But you always say you’re the worst pilot.”

“Oh, totally.”

<Merla, Blue, stay with the lions.>

<But->

<And stay awake this time.>

Merla glared at the liger as he, Chip, Pua, and the paladins continued forwards to meet the bug-like aliens.

<This is unfair.>

<We did fall asleep on guard duty.>

<Please. Guard duty was just an excuse and you know it. Our shields will keep anyone out. I mean, we left the lions alone right in the middle of a Galra occupied Balmera.>

Blue hummed and came up behind the huffy cheetah and started grooming her. <Of course, love.>

<I hate you.>

<Uh huh, sure. Love you too.>

Up ahead, the group was watching the alien in the fancy clothes yell at them.

“… protected us from the most _terrifying_ beast in the galaxy, _Abomination_!”

“Wait, another monster? No, no, no, not again,” Hunk groaned. “We just got out of a fight! We’re looking for the Yalexian Pearl.”

<Are we going to have to kill this Abomination too? Will we get yelled at then as well?> Chip questioned.

“You killed our guardian for the Yalexian Pearl? What kind of monsters are you?”

<We’re not monsters. We’re friends,> Pua growled softly. He tried to approach the aliens, then jumped back when one tried to hit him with their stick.

“Back monster!”

<Stay back. Let the paladins handle this,> Ryou ordered, shuffling back behind the humans and the other two cats followed.

“We’re not monsters. We’re paladins. Those lions you see there transform into Voltron, Defender of the Universe,” Shiro tried to explain reassuringly.

“Never heard of it.”

<Why is it that Reject’s the only one who knows who we are anymore?> Chip growled, clawing at the ground.

“It has been ten thousand years,” Lance sighed.

“I am Shiro. This is Lance, Hunk, Pidge, Keith, Ryou, Chip, and Pua. We’re the good guys,” Shiro tried again.

“I am Elderbug Blate, the town’s leader. I’m in charge of keeping everyone safe from squashing -- something you just made much more difficult.”

<Well, excuse us for not wanting to be killed by a giant bug,> Chip growled.

“Can you please tell us where the pearl is? Our friend’s life is at stake,” Pidge pleaded, leaning down.

“I’m not telling you anything, and I’m the only one here that knows where it is,” Elderbug Blate scoffed.

“What if we defeat your monster, this Abomination?” Keith offered.

“How can we possibly trust you? You’ve doomed us all!”

<That’s good. I didn’t much feel like helping you lot anyways,> Chip snorted. <Ungrateful little bugs.>

<Chip,> Ryou growled.

“What’s that smell?” Hunk asked and his lion scented the air.

<Ooh! That smells amazing!> Pua chuffed and he and his paladin slipped away from the others.

“We know you’re scared, but we will protect you.”

“Why should we trust you and your robot felines? Maybe we should be seeking revenge…”

“Great job, Keith. You destroyed their Guardian!”

“ _Me?_ That was _your_ fault!”

<Oh, so now he gives him credit,> Chip snorted.

<Which one?> Ryou asked.

<Both of them. Maybe Merla’s onto something.>

“HOLY CROW! LOOK AT ALL THIS FOOD!”

Around the bend, Hunk and his lion were salivating over a literal hill of food.

“After the Guardian ate the bowl of food, He would only eat a few of our people,” an alien next to Hunk was explaining as the boy tossed in a few herbs.

“Yeah, if you add a little of this, and some of that… Wait, did you say ‘Ate a few of our people!?’ What kind of guardian _eats villagers!?_ ”

“Well after we made the feast, He would come and eat our food…” the alien said, trailing off as she ate some of Hunk’s improved on food. “And a few villagers… But He _always_ kept Abomination away. We would eat whatever was left in celebration of another year protected. But our Guardian probably wouldn’t have eaten any villagers if He had a meal as delicious as this one!”

<She’s got a point,> Pua growled softly, lapping up some of the mix. <This is the best stuff I’ve had since we left Earth!>

“What is the meaning of this? You destroy our Guardian _and_ desecrate our sacred meal!?”

Pua immediately scrambled away from the food. <I wasn’t doing anything!>

Ryou sighed as Chip laughed.

“It’s delicious! Everyone must try it!” the food alien cheered at the same time that Hunk said, “I didn’t know it was  _sacred_. It just tasted like it could use a little more seasoning-”

“ _Enough!_ You’ve ruined too much,” Elderbug Blate shouted. “I’d rather this village be smushed by Abomination than deal with one more insult from the likes of you! It’s time we stomped you out!”

The food alien rolled her eyes and jumped down to hold out her plate to the elderbug. “Just _try it_ , dad. I know you’ll like it!”

The elderbug scowled, but scooped a little bit of the food into his mouth. His eyes widened and he yelled to the heavens, “This is _incredible!_ ”

Immediately all the other villagers started scooping up some of the food to try for themselves, letting out sounds of enjoyment as they did so.

“Perhaps we misjudged you. Maybe after you defend us from Abomination, _I will_ tell you where the pearl is,” Elderbug Blate announced.

Boom.

<Woohoo! My paladin just saved the day!> Pua cheered slinking back over to the food.

Boom!

<Great job,> Ryou chuffed, noising the boy’s side.

**Boom!**

“Let us commence the feast and celebration. To our paladins!”

“Great! Let’s eat! I’m-”

**BOOM!**

“- starving…” Hunk trailed off and turned to see the cause of the loud stomping coming towards them. “What’s that noise?” A giant shadow cloaked the village. “Aww man!”

A giant beast stood a few miles away, gazing down at the village hungrily.


	2. Someone's in the Kitten With Hunk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hunk's the man with the plan when the team faces Abomination.

With four legs, a mane of tentacles, six eyes, and a pair of curling horns, Abomination stood as tall as Voltron at the shoulders. It’s mouth gaped open, glowing red slightly. The ground began to shake slightly as it grew closer.

The locals screamed and fled.

“It’s still pretty far away,” Hunk pointed out nervously. “Maybe there’s time for, like… a little food?”

Shiro grabbed him and began to tow him back to the lions. “Let’s go!”

Pua grabbed one more mouthful before rushing after the others.

“I’m on it!”

“No,  _ I’m _ on it!”

Merla and Blue had already slipped back into their metallic forms by the time the others reached them and the other cats quickly followed. The paladins ran into their lions and they took to the air.

“Okay, guys. It’s time to  _ form Voltron! _ ”

_ “YEAH!” _

Hunk sighed as the bond that was Voltron settled within him. A swirl of dry, crisp, salty, sweet, spicy, sour, savory, bitter, and fresh, all coming together to make a delicious feast that left Hunk feeling full.

Metaphorically at least. He was still hungry!

<Protect village.>

_ “It’s trying to get to the town!” _

They charged Abomination and slammed into it’s side.

_ “Lance, watch your foot!” _

_ “ _ You _ watch your mouth! I know what I’m doing!” _

<Pain! Sorry!>

They groaned as Abomination yanked their feet out from under them.

_ “Good job, Lance!” _

_ “That one’s on Hunk.” _

<Don’t blame… All together.>

“Sorry, was still thinking about food. I’m too hungry to fight!” Hunk apologized as they stood up.

<One to talk, Ryou.>

_ “Actually, fasting promotes many positive health benefits. Your body is modulating hormones to enhance your senses, thus making you a better hunter.” _

“So my body is making me even more aware of how hungry I am? Great,” Hunk grumbled as they punched Abomination.

_ “Keith, I think it’s time we form sword!” _

A wave of savory-sour passed and the sword formed. They quickly used it and cut abomination straight in half.

<Gross.>

_ “Great job, Keith!” _

“What’s it doing?” Hunk asked and they watched in horror as the beast knitted itself back together.

<Hate regenerators!>

_ “I don’t know, but it doesn’t look good!” _

_ “I  _ knew _ Keith couldn’t do it!” _

_ “Hunk, we’re going to need your blaster!” _

The savory-sour was replaced with by dryness and something else Hunk couldn’t decipher as the sword was replaced by his shoulder cannon.

They fired at the beast, but once more it healed itself without leaving a scratch.

“Nothing we throw at Abomination is working. We’re not going to save Coran, Zarkon’s gonna defeat the entire universe, and I won’t get to eat more of that delicious food down there!” Hunk whined as the dry-unfamiliar taste faded alongside the canon.

<Calm, Hunk.>

_ “Why don’t I just use my bayard upgrade? It’s probably  _ way better _ than Keith’s, anyway.” _

A short burst of spicy came and went.

Abomination rammed into them and knocked them to the side.

<Ow!>

_ “ _ Great job , _ Lance.” _

_ “You must not be ready to unlock that upgrade.” _

They flew over and grabbed hold of it’s tentacles like reigns.

“Abomination must like that smell as much as  _ I _ do! Wait a minute… Smell… Guys! The food!”

<No, no! Listen!>

_ “ _ Enough _ with the food already, Hunk!” _

“Not for me! I think this guy is hungry. I think he’s after the village’s food! I have an idea-”

They screamed as the abomination threw them of of it.

<Pain!>

_ “The village! We’re getting dragged!” _

<Get stable!>

_ “I got you buddy!” _

_ “Great job, Lance! This time I actually mean it.” _

“I have an idea! It might sound crazy, but I think we can distract this guy by cooking it a meal!”

<Sh! … Just listen!>

_ “Are you sure?” _

_ “I’m with Lance. I don’t know if I buy that.” _

“I think that monster is trying to get to the food in the town. Trust me. I’m a slave to my stomach sometimes too.”

_ “Sometimes?” _

“ _ Anyway _ _,_ I say we make this guy a meal he can’t refuse!”

<One to talk. Picky.>

_ “How do you know, Hunk?” _

“Honestly, it’s just a gut feeling.”

_ “All right, I trust you. How do we do this?” _

“We’re going to have to disband Voltron…”

Hunk swallowed unconsciously as the bond faded away, leaving him feeling hollow.

“Shiro, you’re going to have to distract it.”

Shiro grunted an acknowledgment as the Black Lion shot off, jumping onto it’s back and blasting it as he got entangled in its tentacles.

“Pidge, we’re gonna need some of those shrubs for the stew. But only ones with the orange-ish leaves.”

_ “Right,” _ she called, flying off towards the woods.

“Lance, we’re gonna need some water for the stew. And Keith, someone’s gotta heat that stew up.”

The two darted off together towards the nearby lake and Lance had Blue cut off a section to create a small pond that Keith immediately started heating up with Merla’s flamethrower.

_ “What are  _ you _ going to do?” _ Lance asked, finishing up the pond.

“Cook.”

Hunk and Pua dove down to where the Guardian’s corpse lay and scooped it up. “Hope that’s as delicious as it looks!”

<You think that looks delicious? Hunk, we’ve been in space for far too long. I’m grossed out having it in my mouth and I can’t even taste anything in this form!>

They rejoined Pidge and Keith as Lance left to give Shiro backup.

“Keith! You’re overcooking it! Less direct heat!” Hunk shouted.

<Nag nag nag,> Merla huffed as Keith shifted her flames.

<Where’s the lamb sauce!?> Chip shrieked, tossing in more shrubs.

<You both are hilarious,> Pua sighed, dropping the Guardian into the mix. <Ryou’s right, you two can’t take anything serious.>

<Never!> the sisters chirped.

<None of you can,> Ryou muttered as Shiro narrowly had him dodging what would have been the fifth hit in a row. <How much longer?>

<Almost there!> Hunk had Pua clawing threw the stew, breaking up the shrubs and stirring the makeshift pot. <Got it!>

The three flew up while Ryou and Blue were directed back from the beast.

“Come on…” Hunk said as the smell reached Abomination. “I know you want it…” The beast started to turn away and he shouted, “No! Come on. This is delicious!”

Abomination shuffled around and followed the scent to to the pond.

“That’s right!” Hunk cheered and the lions rose up and out of the way so it wouldn’t think they were trying to steal the food from it.

The beast prowled up to the pond. It sniffed the stew before licking the top. It gave an odd, purr-gurgle before sticking its snout into the food and sucking it up.

<It eats like a dog… Can we keep it?>

_ “Oh my…” _

<Merla, it’s six times your size. Your metallic size!>

_ “What’s up, Keith?” _

<So what, Pua? Look at it! It’s adorable and vicious!>

_ “Nothing. It’s… nothing.” _

<Would it even fit in the castle?> Chip hummed. <Maybe->

<No, both of you.>

<Come on, look at it! I’m going to name him->

Hunk frowned as he noticed Keith’s comms cut out.

<Do not tell your mother what to do, young man! If I want to adopt it I will.>

<Merla, enough.>

“Hey, Keith, you okay.”

<Boo!>

There was a moments pause then Keithreconnected.  _ “Yeah, everything’s fine.” _

He shrugged then looked down to see that Abomination had eaten almost all of the stew. It stepped away from the food and yawned. It licked it’s snout and laid down before drifting off with another purr-gurgle.

_ “Yeah!” _ the team cheered.

“Thanks for trusting me, Shiro,” Hunk said as the group turned to head back to the village.

_ “That’s what a leader does. He believes in his team and gives them the power to succeed.” _

<That’s so cheesy.>

_ “Besides, I’m  _ never _ betting against your gut.” _

<And then he ruined it.>

<Leave my paladin alone, Chip, unless you want to join Merla and Blue in trouble?>

<Quiznak, I thought you forgot about that.>

The locals crowded around as they landed, cheering and praising them. Four of the paladins were herded off to the side as Hunk rejoined the aliens by the food. He helped them prepare the rest of the hill while he explained to Elderbug Blate how he’d made the stew for Abomination. Once the food was ready, it was separated into multiple smaller mounds across the village. The locals circled around them and started in.

The paladins and cats settled in at one mound along with the elderbug and his daughter.

Merla purred as one of the aliens set a bowl in front of her. <I could get used to this.>

<Finally,> Pua chuffed before digging in.

“Thank you for saving us. With the new cooking system you created, we will be able to feed Abomination easily and he should leave our village alone,” Elderbug Blate announced.

“Our tradition had lasted  _ so long _ that no one realized it was the  _ cause _ of our suffering,” his daughter said.

“Now about that Yalexian Pearl.”

The elderbug turned to Pidge with a frown. “Oh, yes. I  _ may _ have overstated my knowledge on the subject. I don’t know where the pear is per se.”

<Of course he doesn’t,> Merla growled as the others all deflated.

“But I  _ do know _ who does know where it is: Princess Malocoti. But she’s been captured and is being held captive. You’d have to rescue her to find out where the pearl is.”

Lance suddenly jumped to his feet. “Saving a princess, eh? This sounds like a job for Lance!”

Merla snorted.

<Lance, dear, I love you, but please sit down and eat,> Blue sighed.

Lance frowned and blinked, cocking his head to the side.

“Lance, just sit down and eat. It doesn’t look like we’ll be done soon and we don’t know when we’ll have a chance to stop and eat again,” Shiro said, not noticing Lance’s bemusement.

Lance nodded and dropped down, a bit out of it still.

“So where exactly is this princess of yours?” Pidge asked.

“Oh, she’s not  _ our _ princess. She’s the Princess of the  _ Grand Wrenovy _ . They look more like your species in form,” the elderbug explained. “Their kingdom is across the lake and past the mountains. They say, though, that she’s being held in a tower in the mountains.”

“Being held by who?” Hunk said.

“No one knows. A monster of some sort.”

“That’s comforting,” Keith noted.

“Is there any other information you can give us?” Shiro smiled at the alien that came up to take his empty plate before turning back to the elderbug.

“Hmmm. Nope.”

<That’s even more comforting,> Merla hissed, nosing her bowl toward the food pile. One of the locals quickly stepped forward to fill her bowl. <Wonderful service though.>

Keith rolled his eyes.

“Alright then, let’s get finished up and move out,” Shiro said, standing up. He patted Hunk’s shoulder as he passed. “Great job, again.”

Hunk smiled and Pua nudged him in between mouthfuls.

* * *

Allura glared up at the ceiling of her room. The recreational readings tablet Coran had left her sat at the end of her bed. The fictions just couldn’t keep her interest. They never could. She preferred to be doing things, not reading about other people doing them. She considered calling up the paladins, but she didn’t want to risk interrupting their training during an important point.

**Friend-mind-sister?**

Allura turned to see Chuchule standing on her pillow next to her. “Oh, hello.”

**You bad feel?**

“I’m just bored. I hate being bedstruck.”

**Bored. Need fun. Know fun! Get fun!**

She took off. Allura sighed and closed her eyes, counting away the ticks until her bedroom door opened. She looked over to see that Chuchule had returned and was pushing a hover chair into the room with the help of the other mice.

**We bring fun. Fun for Friend-mind-mother!** Chulatt called as they pushed the chair up to the bed. They climbed up onto the chair and patted the seat.  **Come fun now!**

Allura smiled and slowly shifted herself from the bed and into the chair. Chulatt hopped down and the mice pushed the chair through the door. They started running down the hall and the chair quickly picked up speed. They hopped up onto chair’s arm and the flew down the hallways, spinning occasionally after hitting the walls. When they started to slow, the mice hopped down to give it another push.

They continued this cycle until a particularly powerful hit sent them careening into the bridge in a cyclone. Allura giggled as they slowly spun to a stop. Platt gave a small squeak and fell off the chair while Chulatt grabbed hold of Allura’s hair to stay upright. Chuchule and Plachu had apparently been lost sometime earlier.

_ “Allura?” _

The princess froze then quickly spun around to see the paladins smiling at her from their separate video feeds.

**More?** Chulatt chittered drunkenly dropping into Allura’s lap.

_ “Princess, are you okay?” _ Shiro asked.

“I’m fine,” she said glancing down.

_ “Yeah, you are,” _ Lance called, but she barely noticed because she caught sight of her reflection on the wall and realized her hair was in disarray after all the playi- after the mice’s entertainment.

She smoothed her hair out as she said, “I’m just a bit winded. How is your training going?”

_ “There’s been a bit of a setback,” _ Shiro sighed.  _ “An alien named Kythylian Mu is holding Coran hostage because of some old gambling debts from ten thousand years ago and the only way he’ll let him go is if we bring him a Yalexian Pearl so we’ve been trying to track it down. We’ve gotten information that a Princess… Uh-” _

_ “Manicotti?” _ Hunk offered.

_ “Macaroni?” _ Pidge added with a chuckle.

_ “Malocoti,”  _ Keith said.

_ “Yes, thank you, Keith. Princess Malocoti knows where the pearl is so we’re off to rescue her from some monster that kidnapped her.” _

_ Well, surprisingly it seems like everything's going according to Coran’s plan,  _ Allura thought as she put on a worried look. “That’s it! I’m coming to help!”

_ “Don’t sweat it, Allura. I already saved one beautiful alien princess. Doing it again shouldn’t be a problem,” _ Lance said with a wink.

_ What does sweating have to do with anything? Wait… _ “What!? You!? Saved me!? When I get to that planet, you are going to have to rescue my foot from-” she cut off in a coughing fit.

_ “Princess, you should be resting. You just saved a whole planet on the Balmera. Let us handle this,” _ Shiro said, worriedly.

“I’m fine. I can-”

_ “Hush now, little lady. You just go back to bed and dream about my return.” _

_ I’m going to kill him. _ “If I could reach through this screen and grab you by the  _ yulschtrix _ -”

_ “I know.” _

_ “Lance! Would you just zip it?” _ Keith growled.

Lance winked at the screen.

_ “We should probably go before Allura actually goes  _ The Ring _ on Lance,” _ Pidge joked.

Hunk shivered and nodded.

_ “Don’t worry, princess. We’ll save Coran and be back home soon,” _ Shiro reassured.

Allura sighed and nodded. “Just be careful.”

_ “For you, anything.” _

_ “Goodbye, princess,” _ Shiro groaned.

_ “Bye Allura!” _

_ “Goodbye!” _

_ “Bye.” _

_ “Until we meet again my-” _

Allura chuckled as she cut Lance off. “Well, it’s good to know everything’s working out on that end.” She turned to where the mice were waiting with a smile. “What should we do now?”


	3. Feline a Bit Blue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance starts feeling a bit off as he and the others journey to free a princess.

_A monstrous dragon straight out of a fairytale rises up with a roar._ _A fair princess with long black hair, blue violet eyes, and a flowing red dress clings to him as he raises his bayard to vanquish the beast._

_Don’t you think you’ve eaten enough?_

_He strikes a victorious pose as the monster collapses. The princess moves in for a kiss._

_“Oh Lance!”_

“Lance?”

_He’s daydreaming about glory and love._

_“Don’t worry, I’ve got you princess.”_

“Lance!”

Lance blinked. “Sorry, what?”

Shiro gives him a confused look and pointed towards the lions… who were already fused with the cats? When’d that happen?

“Are you joining us? To find the princess?”

“Oh, yeah, of course! Just zoned out a little there.”

_Be nice._

“Can we get going?”

Lance shot Keith a glare as they started towards the lions.

“You think we should contact Princess Allura and tell her what happened to Coran?” Pidge asked.

“Yeah, we might be a little late getting back,” Keith agreed and Shiro nodded.

“I hate to worry her, but I guess you’re right.”

_Do you think she knows what’s going on?_

They all climbed into the lions and called the castle. After a moment, the call connected and Allura appeared.

For some reason she was in a chair in the bridge, facing away from them and slightly ruffled.

_“Allura?”_ Shiro asked. _“Princess, are you okay?”_

_“I’m fine.”_

“Yeah, you are,” Lance called.

_Oh leave him alone, he’s got a crush!_

She must have noticed her hair as she quickly moved to fix it. _“I’m just a bit winded. How is your training going?”_

Lance tuned out Shiro’s explanation.

He shifted his helmet so he could rub at his forehead, trying to get rid of the odd feeling that had settled over him partway through the celebration feast.

_“Manicotti?”_ Hunk said and Lance refocused.

_Mackerel?_

_“Macaroni?”_

_You have to admit, it is a bit funny._

_“Malocoti,”_ Keith said, ruining whatever joke Pidge and Hunk had going on, of course. By accident, judging by the look on his face, but still, leave it to Keith.

_“Yes, thank you, Keith. Princess Malocoti knows where the pearl is so we’re off to rescue her from some monster that kidnapped her.”_

_“That’s it! I’m coming to help!”_

“Don’t sweat it, Allura. I already saved one beautiful alien princess. Doing it again shouldn’t be a problem,” Lance reassured the princess. He winked and gave her a winning grin.

_“What!? You!? Saved me!?”_ she shouted. Despite this, Keith’s facepalm, and Pidge’s gagging, she was clearly blushing. _“When I get to that planet, you are going to have to rescue my foot from-”_ A cough cut her off.

_“Princess, you should be resting. You just saved a whole planet on the Balmera. Let us handle this,”_ Shiro said, worriedly.

_“I’m fine. I can-”_

“Hush now, little lady. You just go back to bed and dream about my return.”

_“If I could reach through this screen and grab you by the yulschtrix-”_

“I know.”

_I won’t let her. Honestly, you guys are too hard on him._

_“Lance! Would you just zip it?”_ Keith growled.

Lance winked at him. Honestly, jealously just didn’t suit his fellow paladin.

_Sh! If they do, they have to figure it out on their own!_

_“We should probably go before Allura actually goes_ The Ring _on Lance.”_

Lance frowned at Pidge’s comment. _Rude!_

_“Don’t worry, princess. We’ll save Coran and be back home soon.”_

_“Just be careful.”_

“For you, anything.”

_“Goodbye, princess.”_

_“Bye Allura!”_

_“Goodbye!”_

_“Bye.”_

“Until we meet again my-” Lance’s screen cut out. “Huh, I think something’s wrong with the connection, guys.”

_“Something’s wrong with your connection.”_

“Funny Pidge.”

_It was not._

Lance groaned and rubbed his head. He hoped this fuzzy feeling wouldn’t last.

* * *

It lasted.

Lance pinched the bridge of his nose with a huff.

_Do you think that’s the tower?_

_“What’s wrong with Lance?”_ Pidge asked.

“My head all feels all weird.”

_“You mean weirder than usual?”_

“Haha, very funny.”

_“You alright?”_ Shiro asked.

“Yeah. I think so. It’s just fuzzy.”

_“You can nap once we get Coran back,”_ Keith said as they pulled up near a tower to see a humanoid woman in a gown and crown waving at them. _“That must be Princess Malocoti.”_

_“They said she was being held captive. But by what?”_

The woman darted inside as a beast rose up around the tower.

_What do you know, it was a dragon. Lance was right._

_“By that!”_

_“Everyone! Form Voltron!”_

Lance shivered with excitement as the rush that is Voltron rang through his ears. He heard waves lapping, a fire crackling, thunder booming, rocks falling, a motor revving, leaves crunching, electronics buzzing, the wind blowing, and a soft whistling. The sounds echoing around and inside him, leaving him feeling energized.

They came together to stand opposite the alien dragon. Before they could do anything, though, it’s tail swung around, knocking them off their feet.

_“Hunk! We need your shoulder cannon!”_

_“You got it.”_

The rocks and motor grew louder as the canon formed.

_“FIRE!!”_

Their legs stabilized them as the canon fired, meeting the dragon’s fire halfway.

_“This thing can match our firepower. We need to try something else. Form sword!”_

Acknowledgement flickered through them with a thundercrack. The rocks and motor quieted again and the thunder and fire grew, all in time with the deconstructing canon and forming sword.

They slashed and thrusted at the dragon, but the serpentine beast kept dodging out of the way.

_“It’s too quick, we can’t touch it!”_

_Going as fast as can._

_“But it’s going to touch us!”_

_“Shields up!”_

_“I’m on it!”_

They float back to prepare for an attack, but the dragon only roars at them.

_“Why isn’t it attacking us? It’s like it’s just yelling at us.”_

Lance’s eyes widened as he stared at the beast, a memory of Allura coming to mind. “Wait a second, I recognize this yelling. This dragon isn’t guarding the princess, the dragon _is_ the princess! Put away the sword! She won’t hurt us!”

They recalled the sword, then relaxed.

The dragon followed.

_ Don’t give enough credit… Why so mean? _

_“If that’s the Princess, then who’s in the tower?”_

The dragon peered around them, then growled and pointed over their shoulder.

They turned to see the woman in the tower summing a ball of red magic.

_“I’m guessing she’s not a friendly innkeeper!”_

She launched the ball at their chest and pain swarmed their bodies and connection.

_Pain!_

_“She’s tearing us apart!”_

_“I can’t take much more!”_

_“Everyone back into lions!”_

The sounds died as they split up.

Lance piloted Blue around to Shiro’s side. “I say we take that witch down!”

_“Let her have it!”_

All five lions shot towards the tower and the woman just barely managed to jump down before the top exploded. She reached up and blasted the Red Lion.

_“The blast knocked out all my controls! We’re going down!”_

_Merla!_

The witch attacked again. First Hunk fell, then Shiro. Lance managed to deflect a blast aimed at Blue using her ice breath. “Looks like it’s just you and me, Pidge… Pidge?”

_Where’d you go Chip?_

“PIDGE?”

_Where’d she go?_ Lance shouted in his head as he swerved around the witch’s blasts with a scream.

_A little help before we get_ blasted out of the sky!? _… You can tell me to wait when you’re the one-_

Suddenly the blasts stopped and Lance looked down to see the witch was squirming on the ground.

“What was that?”

_Finally!_

“Get off!” the woman shouted.

The air over her crackled as the Green Lion appeared from thin air.

Lance paused, then smiled. “Nice going, Pidge! I see you got the signals I sent about you using Chip’s cloaking while I distracted her!”

_Oh Lance._

_“You mean the_ screaming? _Yeah, I picked up on that.”_

Lance landed next to Pidge and exited his lion as Keith, Hunk, and Shiro walked up with their cats in their arms. Blue slipped out and over to Keith’s side to sniff at Merla.

_Love?_

The serval gave a sad mewl and licked Blue’s snout.

“How are they?” Pidge asked, stepping out of her lion.

“Exhausted and pained, but they’ll be okay,” Keith said.

Lance took Ryou from Shiro and the Black Paladin walked over to the witch. He grabbed a pair of cuffs from his side pockets and a few sparks flickered across her fingers. “Keep away from me, star filth!”

Shiro snapped the cuffs around the her wrists and the sparks dissipated.

The dragon roared and the five spun around to see her shrinking down until she took the form of the same type of alien as the witch. She fell forward and Blue darted in to catch her.

“Poor gal,” Lance said. “You seem like you’re really _dragon_.”

_By the anodites!_

“Come on…”

“Aw, man.”

“Wow.”

“Lance, please.”

_No, Pua, it wasn’t._

Lance ignored the complaints and smiled at the princess as Blue helped her up.

Princess Malocoti gave a shaky breath, staring at her feet. “I want to thank you all for saving me. While under the sorceress’ spell, I could not attack her, but obviously I could not tell anyone who I really was.” She smiled and grabbed Lance’s hand. “But somehow, even though I was just an enraged, screaming monster, you could see who I really was, deep down inside.”

Lance tried to look as cool as possible while still bearing a large, grumpy cat in his arms. “This isn’t the first time an enraged princess has screamed at me,” he chuckled nonchalantly.

“And it won’t be the last,” Keith sighed with a smile.

“I know you’ve been through a lot, Princess, but I’m afraid we need your help,” Shiro said, stepping forward.

“Anything. I owe you my life.”

“We’re looking for the Yalexian Pearl,” Keith explained.

“No! That is a suicide mission!”

“If we don’t get it, our friend will die,” Hunk pleaded.

“To find the Yalexian Pearl, you will need to depend on the _bravest_ and most _clever_ of you all…”

_Hunk’s too cautious, Keith too oblivious, so Lance, Pidge, or Shiro?_

_Honestly, the princess is so flattering._

_Yes he is, love._

“You, Pidge,” the Princess said, turning to the girl.

“Me?”

“Pidge!?”

“Well…”

“It was you who used your invisibility to sneak up on the sorceress while using Lance’s panicking and screaming as a distraction.”

“I was _not_ panicking!”

“Reaching the yalex means passing the brain-sucking mushrooms, defeating the ghostly chess master, and answering the riddle of the sphinx.”

“Answering a riddle, huh?”

Lance frowned as the Princess draped herself over Pidge.

_How did she end up being the knight in shining armor?_

Blue growled softly and nuzzled his side.

_Don’t mind her. You’re still my Prince Charming. You’re the only one that realized the dragon was the princess, after all!_

Lance gave her a strained smile and bumped her with his hip. “You’re my favorite Princess.”

Blue chuffed and licked his face.

“Blue!”

_I better be! You’re head feeling bad again?_

Shiro glanced over at his shout and frowned at the strained look on his face. “You okay?”

“My head’s starting to feel all fuzzy again.”

“Naptime?” Pidge teased.

“I don’t know. It’s not tired fuzzy, just… crowded.”

“How can something empty feel crowded, right Keith?” Pidge continued, nudging the youngest male paladin.

Lance glared at him, expecting an agreement, only to be met with silence. He just stared at Lance. “What?” the Blue Paladin growled.

“Keith?” Pidge asked, nudging him again.

He snapped out of it and looked down at her. “What?”

“Are _you_ okay?”

“Fine. Just… thinking.”

Shiro sent both boys a worried look before turning to the princess. “Do you have a means of getting home or can we give you a ride?”

“I would be honored to be taken back to my kingdom in your creatures. It would suit your needs as well. I can better direct you to the Great Universal Shinx’s ziggurat from there.”

“Alright,” Shiro said before turning to Ryou. “How’re you feeling?”

He yawned and squirmed out of Lance’s arms. He shook out his fur before turning to the others.

Pua stretched with a purr, then nosed under Hunk’s chin. Hunk smiled and set down the cat.

The paladins turned to Merla, who huffed and nuzzled into Keith’s arms. Keith rolled his eyes and set her down, despite her complaining.

“She’s fine.”

Merla hissed at him and came over to curl up against Blue.

_You poor thing._

“Alright then. Let’s get going. Princess, would you like to come with-”

“Pidge? Of course! I’d love too!” the princess said, wrapping her arm around the girl’s.

“Okay,” Shiro chuckled. “What should we do about the sorceress?”

She frowned and turned to the witch. “She should be brought back to my kingdom to stand trial for her crimes.”

Shiro nodded. “I’ll bring her in the Black Lion then. Hunk give me a hand getting her secured?”

“Yeah.”

“Great. The rest of you, back to the lions.”

“Right.”

Lance scratched Blue’s head as they headed back towards the Blue Lion.

A hand grabbed his arm.

Lance turned, then frowned. “What do you want?”

Keith glanced down at Merla, who purred and nipped his arm.

“Well?”

“I… Can you… hear Blue?”

Lance raised an eyebrow. “Of course I can hear Blue. I’m not deaf.”

“No, I mean- Ugh, forget it.”

Lance watched the Red Paladin stomp away, confused. “What’s up with him?” He turned to Blue, only to find him staring up at him. “What?”

Blue stared into his eyes for a short time before giving a soft growl.

_Can you hear me?_

“Lance!”

“Huh?” he looked up to see Hunk waving as he headed away towards the Yellow Lion.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing.” Lance shook himself before turning back to Blue. “C’mon boy, let’s get going.”

Blue whined and disappeared.

_I guess not._

* * *

“The ziggurat is here, at the very center of the Great Southern Sands. That’s where you’ll find the Sphinx.”

“Thank you, princess.”

“Of course,” she said, before turning to Pidge. “Please be careful! And if you survive, feel free to visit!”

“That’s- Oh!” Pidge blushed as Princess Malocoti pressed a kiss on her cheek.

“You and yours are always welcome here!”

“Well, um thank you!”

Lance frowned and crossed his arms. “First Blue, then Hunk, now Pidge. Is everyone going to get an alien girlfriend except me?”

_Well, technically Merla’s the same species as me so not an alien girlfriend._

“In your defense, I think it’s pretty clear none of us except Pidge are the princess’s type,” Hunk pointed out.

“You never stood a chance,” Keith snorted as the princess pressed another kiss to the flustered cheeks of the Green Paladin.

“That’s really not helping. At least I know I’ll get a girlfriend before _you_ ,” Lance shot back.

Merla nudged Lance’s side with a mewl and Keith flushed.

_Merla! Stop being mean!_

“Alright, I think we should get going! Gotta save Coran, right? Let’s go guys!” Pidge called, peeling herself away from the princess and running over to Shiro’s side. “No time to waste. Sorry, princess!”

Shiro, taking pity on her, nodded. “She’s right. We need to get going. Thank you again for your help. Let’s move out.”

With Pidge in the lead, the paladins left the small planning room and returned to their lions.

“Farewell, Pidge, paladins! May we meet again.”

Lance sighed as he dropped into his seat.

_Don’t worry, Lance. You’ll find your soul-bound soon enough._

“Thanks, Blue.”

Lance blinked, then rubbed at his head. What had just happened?

He felt his connection with Blue buzz with excitement, but that was it.

He pulled himself together as the others took to the air and quickly followed.


	4. Mind Over Meow-tter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge undergoes the sphinx's tests while the cats catch up with an old... friend?

<Ugh! We’ve been flying forever! How much farther?>

<Don’t you mean, are we there yet?>

<Are we there yet? Are we there yet?>

<Merla, Chip, enough. Blue, don’t encourage them.>

<Yes, dad.>

<Gross, could you imagine Ryou being our dad!>

<That’d make Blue our aunt and you’d be->

<Yes, Chip, thank you for that.>

<Knock it off you two.>

<Oh, come on, Ryou. They’re just keeping busy. The last thing we need is those two getting bored.>

<Might I remind you the last time I got bored, it resulted in all of us figuring out how to separate from our metallic forms? I’d say me getting bored is very profitable!>

<Merla, love, that is literally one moderately good instance tucked within millions of terrible ones.>

<Kiss a kwaila!>

<We’re flying right now, I can’t kiss you.>

<BURN!>

<I’m going to kick your->

<I’m surrounded by children. Honestly, can we have five minutes of quiet. Just five.>

…

_“Anyone else tired?”_

<Ha! Pua’s human spoke first!>

<Hunk didn’t count. Besides, it wasn’t a competition.>

_“No.”_

<Keith, I’m tired! Tell them I’m tired!>

<No, you’re not.>

_“Okay, just asking. It’s been a while since we’ve, you know, not been fighting or adventuring or anything.”_

<Point.>

<Better point, the three of us got blasted out of the sky an hour or so ago. I think we’re due for a nap.>

_“You think we have it bad? At least our life force wasn’t sucked out to fuel an entire planet. Princess Allura still hasn’t fully healed.”_

<Listen to your paladin, Merla.>

<A good mother listens to her children, but that doesn’t mean she has to obey!>

_“Speaking of Princesses, didn’t Malocoti say we’d find this zigg-a-whatever here?”_

_“Ziggurat. It’s a step pyramid.”_

_“Then why don’t they call it a pyramid?”_

<Probably because most people think of the Egyptian pyramids when you just say pyramid. Ziggurat’s look much diff- Oh! Pidge!>

_“Just keep looking. Wait, I’m getting a reading! There!”_

The lions landed and everyone walked out towards the ziggurat.

“It’s massive! So inside is where we’ll find this sphinx guy that’ll tell us where the pearl is?”

<Not exactly.>

The paladins jumped back with a shout as the ziggurat came apart, rearranging itself into the shape of a creature with the four-legged lower body of a feline and the upper body of a winged humanoid.

<HI ZYLIN!!!> Chip chirped.

<Chip, flirt with your soul-bound later,> Pua huffed.

<He is _not_ my soul-bound anymore!>

<Hello, Great Pride. It is good to see you all again after so long,> the sphinx hummed before announcing, “ **I am the Great Universal Sphinx! Why have you disturbed me?** ”

<Why is your soul-bound always so dramatic?>

<PUA!>

“Wow!”

“We’re looking for the Yalexian Pearl. We were told you could help us find it. We need it to rescue our friend.”

<Can you just tell them instead of being your usual difficult self?> Ryou asked.

<No, My King. There are rules and traditions that must be followed, even by you and yours,> he answered. “ **I am a repository for great research. I have been analyzing life throughout the cosmos for over a million years. Of course I know where the pearl is; however, I do not know whether you are worthy of the information. Tell me, who is the most knowledgeable amongst you?** ”

“Her.”

<Chip.>

“The green one.”

<Her.>

“The short one.”

<Pidge.>

“That’s Pidge.”

<Chip.>

“Me.”

<Me.>

<Six, four, in favor of the human.>

Chip shot her sister a glare, which was met with a completely unrepentant look.

“ **It is decided. Your body, mind, and spirit shall be tested. Enter to prove yourself… and save your friend.** ”

Zylin collapsed back into Ziggurat form.

<Nice going, Merla,> Pua huffed.

<What?>

<We would have been better off allowing Chip to face the trials,> Ryou growled as the group began heading inside.

<Psh, Pidge will be fine.>

“Why’d he ask for the smartest person if there’s going to be a test of the body?”

<You were saying?>

<Come on, am I the only one that has faith in Chip’s palain?>

“You’re the smart one. Shouldn’t you know that?”

<I have all the faith in her. That doesn’t change the fact that we would have had much higher odds if I’d been the one selected.>

“ **Commence test of body.** ”

Suddenly mushrooms jumped off the walls and attached themselves to the male paladins. Their cats shivered as they felt the connections between them become clouded.

“What are you doing!?”

“ **The spores control your friends.** ”

<Keith!> Merla shouted, running for her cub, but a cyclone of sand rose up around the cats before solidifying into a glass dome.

The paladins rose up, glaring at Pidge with eyes covered by a white film.

“ **You must defeat your allies in combat. Without the assistance of the Great Pride.** ”

Shiro’s hand lit up with energy and he charged Pidge.

“ **They will fight exactly as your friends fight.** ”

Pidge brought up her shield, but the blow was still strong enough that she was knocked back into Keith’s arms.

“ **Let’s see if you’re smart enough to defeat them.** ”

Pidge kicked off Shiro’s chest, launching herself and Keith into a pillar. Taking the brunt of the impact, the Red Paladin released her on instinct. Freed, Pidge darted to the side, only to receive a kick to the side from Shiro that knocked her to the ground at the other paladins’ feet.

<Pidge!> Chip yowled.

<That’s it!> Merla hissed. She faded into quintessence and shot forwards.

The glass held her back just the same.

There was a thundercrack and she lit up with a wave of blazing blue flames that rolled across the dome.

<Merla!> Ryou roared as the four ducked under the assaulting heat.

The flames died back into quintessence and Merla collapsed into her cheetah form, panting and shaking with anger as she glared up at the unaffected glass.

<Zylin, let us out!> Blue growled.

<I apologize, Princess Salia, but I cannot. The rules must be followed. I will not control you out of respect, but you cannot be allowed to interfere.>

The five refocused on the fight, just in time to see Pidge bring a boulder down on Keith.

<I'm going to kill him,> Merla groaned.

Pidge scrambled out of the way as Shiro appeared behind her. She shuffled backwards as she brought up a holoscreen on her gauntlet.

<What’s she doing?> Blue asked.

<Using her brain,> Chip said.

<I thought this was a test of body,> Merla sighed.

<Well, the brain is a part of the body.>

<I thought Chip was supposed to be the know-it-all, Pua.>

Shiro stood over Pidge and bought back his fist. Suddenly his arm locked up and the glow died away. The shock even snapped Shiro free of the mind control for half a second.

Pidge used the pause to slip forwards and-

<By the Anodites! Did she seriously just deck _Shiro!?_ You go Pidge! >

Pidge dropped to her knees, panting. “Sorry I had to hack your hand, Shiro, but I’ll turn it back on.”

The glass dome collapsed into sand as Zylin said, “ **Impressive. You will rise to the next level.** ”

<Keith!> Merla called, shakily rising to her feet before she and the others rushed over to their paladins. She froze as she saw the skin around his eyes slowly fading from lavender back to normal.

“Hey girl,” Keith said, reaching up to pat her on the head.

She flinched and focused in in time to see the last of the film disappearing from his yellow eyes.

“You okay?”

<Fine. You?>

“A little sore, but alright,” he groaned, sitting up. Merla helped him to his feet as the lavender faded from his skin and his eyes began to shift back to purple.

“Sorry, Pidge. We couldn’t control ourselves,” Hunk told the girl as she and Pua helped him to his feet.

“How’d you beat us all, anyway?” Keith asked, rubbing his side.

“I keep running files on all of your weaknesses. I exploited those weaknesses.”

Everyone except Chip stared at the girl.

“Our weaknesses?” Hunk asked incredulously as the group started heading up the stairs to the next room of the ziggurat. “How could you keep a running tab of our weaknesses?”

“Yeah, that’s messed up,” Lance agreed.

“Smart if you ask me.”

<Hate to say it, but me too,> Pua chuffed. <It _would_ help us better cover the team’s weaknesses. >

“It worked, but if that information were ever to fall into the wrong hands…”

“Look, I’m sorry. I know it’s weird to do, to keep all that information on you all, my friends, but it’s just how I am. It’s my nature.”

Chip growled softly and nuzzled her side.

The group reached the top of the stairs to discover… a giant chessboard?

“ **The second challenge will be a game of chess.** ”

“Chess, huh? How do we both know about chess?”

“ **This is not the first time your species was tested. They failed, but remembered the game.** ”

<Seriously?>

“Wait, what!?”

<You’re kidding?>

“ **I visited Earth long ago. The game remained with your kind. Even though they got it wrong for a while, trying to make the king the most powerful piece, but eventually your society corrected itself.** ”

<Oh my- that explains so much!>

“That’s crazy!”

<How long were you there? How many humans did you interact with? When->

“ **Can we get back to the test. Please?** ”

<But->

<Chip.>

“Fine.”

“ **A draw will be considered a loss for you.** ”

“Doesn’t sound too hard. Who am I playing?

“ **Yourself.** ” Another mushroom hopped out of the shadows and latched onto Pidge before jumping across the room.

“Pidge! Are you okay?” Shiro asked, stepping forward to help support the girl.

“Yeah, but I feel like I stayed up all night _not_ studying.”

“ **The spore has absorbed your mind. It will use your skills against you. And to be certain there’s no interfering…** ”

Holes opened up beneath the cats.

<Not again,> Merla hissed as they fell down. The sand of the tunnel swirled around them before shooting them out onto the chessboard.

Ryou landed in the spot of the white king, with Blue next to him as a bishop and Pua next to her as a knight. On his other side, past the Queen, Chip and Merla were also a bishop and knight respectively.

“ **You will have thirty ticks for each move. Begin!** ”

<Yeah, I’m not doing this.>

<Don’t move.> Chip snapped at her sister’s paw before it could leave her square.

<Why?>

<Have you never seen Harry Potter?>

<Harry what?>

<By the Anodites! Just stay on your square unless Pidge tells you to move.>

<Great.>

* * *

<Remind me again why I can’t just kill the king? It’s right there.>

<Once again, that’s not how knights move,> Chip sighed from off to the side where she and Blue were lounging after having been taken out.

<But if I have this chance why shouldn’t I just take it?>

<Because you’re a knight, not an assassin.>

<Not in this game, at least,> Blue snickered, rolling back to her feet and yawning. <Give her a break, Chip. She _is_ the one in the room with the most experience attempting to kill a king. >

<Thank you, love, that’s very helpful.>

<She’s also the one with the most _failed_ attempts at killing a king. >

“Checkmate!”

<Thank the Anodites!> Merla chirped, running over to the stairs that were rising up to allow the cats to reach their paladins. <Are we almost done with this nerd stuff?>

“ **Now to the most difficult challenge of all…** ”

The moment all the cats had made it onto the platform, it shot upwards. It carried them up to the top of the temple before knocking them down the side. Once they’d reached the ground, Zylin reformed into a sphinx.

“ **What can be totally broken apart and yet reform stronger than ever?** ”

“Oh, I actually know it!”

“What is it?”

“It’s Voltron!”

“ **Incorrect! You have failed!** ”

“What? Then what is it?”

“ **Hope. The correct answer was hope.** ”

“But Voltron is applicable! And very relevant!”

“ **I’m sorry, but the answer was hope. And now I will never tell you where the pearl is!** ”

<Are you kidding me!>

<ZYLIN!>

“I mean, like _a lot_ of things could have been the answer if you think about it. Like love.”

<A kingdom can be stronger once it’s brought back together,> Ryou offered.

“I’ve heard of people breaking swords and then smelting them even stronger.”

<Bones. Bones are stronger after you break them!> Merla hissed.

“My heart is stronger than ever, despite it being broken many times.”

“Isn’t that love, like Hunk said?”

“Oh be quiet before I break you and see if you reform stronger.”

“I think Pidge’s answer should be honored,” Shiro said, stepping between the two fighting boys.

“ **Well that’s not how it works! I make the rules! And I’m not helping you at all!** ”

<Zylin!> Ryou roared.

<I’m sorry, My King, but the rules say the test of spirit is mine to set and this is the one I’ve chosen. The human has failed,> Zylin growled. “ **Now get in the lions and leave!** ”

“I’ve always hated riddles,” Keith growled as they all returned to the lions.

As Pidge passed the Red Lion, she turned back and pointed up at Zylin. “You know what? You want to test my spirit? Try standing between me saving my friend. You’re gonna have _hoped_ that you hadn’t!” She jumped inside Chip and grabbed her controls in a white-knuckle grip. “Mind if I say it, Shiro?”

_“Go for it.”_

“Form Voltron!”

Pidge relaxed as images flickered past her eyes, her mind linking up with Voltron’s system. Meadows, forests, cliffs, hills, wrenches, whisks, storms, thrones, charts, shields, volcanoes, wildfires, swords, stars, glaciers, rivers, paintings, and sweaters all flashed through to leave her feeling connected.

“Tell us where the pearl is!”

“ **You are more foolish than I thought! I will crush you!** ”

The sphinx hit them right in the jaw.

<Ow! Zylin! Dim!>

They crouched down and Pidge called out, “Keith, help me stabilize. Hunk, lock it up. Lance, do your thing!”

_“Oh yeah! Finally! Voltron Leg Swipe!”_ the Blue Paladin cheered as they spun about, swinging their leg out.

The sphinx lifted into the air before the could hit.

<Whoops.>

_“Oh come on!”_

They shot into the air, then body slammed him to the ground.

<YIELD!>

“ **Okay! Okay! I’ll tell you,** ” he groaned and they got off him. As he stood, he said, “ **I’m sorry. I know it was a horrible riddle. I just do that so people can’t answer correctly. I do it to make myself feel superior.** ”

<Never changes… Not my soul-bound anymore!>

“ **It’s pathetic really.** ”

_“I’ll say,”_ Lance snorted.

“ **Hey, I saw in your mind. Do we really want to get into who’s more pa-** ” he cut off with a flinch. He knelt down and ducked his head. “ **Apologies, Blue Paladin.** ”

<Go Blue!>

_“Uh, what just happened?”_ Hunk asked.

_“I think Blue just told him off,”_ Lance said, sounding awed.

“ **She did. I spoke hastily and without thought -** ”

<The usual.>

“ **\- and should not have said what I did. From your response, I can see that you all have come far in such a short time. I can tell you will do great things as the Great Pride’s chosen knights.** ”

“Great Pride?” Pidge questioned.

“ **The pearl is in the Evershadow or our moon. But it is a dangerous place and darkness lurks below.** ” He stood up and began to collapse back into a ziggurat. <Take care, Great Pride. And farewell sweet Dansa. Until we meet again.>

<Shut up.>

_“So… that’s it then?”_ Hunk asked.

“Apparently.”

_“I think Blue still wants to kick the pyramid.”_

_“I_ know _Merla wants her to.”_

_“Alright, let’s head out. Looks like we’re heading up to the darkside of the moon.”_

“Do you think they’ll have cookies?”

_“Cookies?”_

<Merla!>

_“I’ll explain on the way,”_ Lance sighed.


	5. Getting the Purr-l

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's finally time to face the yalex.

“I still don’t get why anyone would think  _ cookies _ would be motivation to join the bad guys,” Keith huffed, watching the stars flicker past as they flew towards Krell’s moon.

_ “You’ve never had Hunk’s cookies.” _

_ “Aw, Lance!” _

_ “Yeah, I’d join the darkside for Hunk’s homemade peanut butter cookies,” _ Pidge agreed.

_ “Guys, stop!” _

_ “Let’s hope Zarkon never gets his recipes, then, if half the team’s bailing out just for cookies,” _ Shiro laughed.

_ “Just! JUST! Hunk’s cookies are a gift from the Anodites!” _ Lance gasped.

Keith’s eyes widened.

_ “Anodites?” _ Pidge asked.  _ “What’s an Anodite?” _

_ “Did you mean anodyne?” Shiro asked. _

_ “I… I meant gods. I don’t know where that came from. Ugh! Words!” _

_ “Same,” _ Pidge sighed.

Keith bit his lip. “Merla?” he whispered.

<Yes. No. Maybe.>

“Helpful.”

<Blue not sure. Kind of. Sort of. Maybe. Still together. More confusing.>

Keith nodded. The cats were usually pretty scrambled when fused.

_ “Stay vigilant. The yalex could be anywhere,” _ Shiro said as they landed on the moon’s surface.

“Or anything. That sphinx didn’t provide a lot of detail.”

<Buzz.>

_ “It must be a giant oyster, right? I mean, if to save Coran we have to harvest a pearl…” _

_ “If we went through a sphinx, a dragon, and two giant whatever-they-were just to say  _ Form Blazing Shucker, _ I’m going to be a little let down.” _

_ “I won’t. We could take that giant oyster back to the Fripping Bulgogian and have them fry it up for us. That might make this nightmare worthwhile.” _

<Yum.>

_ “Let’s just find a way to save Coran. That will make it all worthwhile.” _

Something wandered past them and they turned to look at it.

_ “Do you think that’s the yalex?” _ Pidge asked.

They took a step towards it and it looked up. It stared at them for a moment before continuing on.

_ “If that’s the yalex, he’s a pretty cool cucumber. We just landed a giant fightin’ robot on his moon and he’s all like,  _ meh, _ ” _ Lance snorted.

_ “Let’s find out who it is. But be ready. I have a feeling we’re going to need Voltron before all this is over,” _ Shiro said.  _ “Disassemble!” _

Keith sighed as the air cleared around him with Voltron’s deconstruction. He shook it off and guided Merla around to follow the unknown creature.

_ “Let’s set down over near that mound,” _ Shiro ordered.

_ “Masks up,” _ Pidge warned.  _ “The atmosphere here is poisonous. Looks like some kind of underground methane reserve coming out of the hole back there.” _

Merla started snickering.

<Mature,> Pua huffed.

The lions set down and Keith stood up. “You coming?”

There was some grumbling, but Merla formed next to him before activating her mask.  _ <You know this stuff is unnecessary. I could just as easily take the form of something that can survive this atmosphere,> _ she growled, scratching at the armor.

“Better safe than sorry.”

She snorted heading for the exit.  _ <Let’s just go and get this over with.> _

He nodded and followed. “So, Lance?”

_ <No idea. If he can, he sure doesn’t know it.> _

“Great.”

The paladins all left the lions with the cats at their sides and Shiro called out,  _ “Hello.” _

The creature, which looked similar to a camel, turned his head.  _ “Have you come for the Yalex?” _

_ “Yes. Do you know where it is?” _ Shiro asked.

_ “And what it is?” _ Hunk added.

The camel-person looked up at the sky.  _ “Yes. Where, what… and when.” _ He started walking again.

There was a moment's pause.

_ <I think this guy is nuts.> _

_ <Chip, be nice,> _ Ryou growled.

_ “Follow me,” _ the stranger hummed before leading them on until they reached an airlock the let into the mound.

Once through, the group found themselves in a large cavern that had been carved into a beautiful temple.

_ “Woah!” _ Hunk, Shiro, and Lance gasped.

“Impressive,” Keith agreed.

Pidge looked at something on her gauntlet before nodding and turning off her mask. “The air’s clean here.”

The stranger set down his mask and handed the container he was carrying off to another of his kind before standing up onto two feet. “This is the Temple of the Yalex,” he said, leading them to a pavilion where a few others of his kind were working.

“There don’t seem to be enough of you here to grow all this grain,” Shiro said, looking around.

<Doesn’t,> Chip huffed and Merla hissed at her.

“Oh, we did not do it alone. The rest of our people left the moon and returned to Krell after the growing season. Only the high priests remain. We will stay here and devote our remaining days to bringing about the Yalex.”

“Why are they chewing up the grain and spitting it in those jars?” Keith asked, staring at the group of priests in the center of the pavilion.

<Well, they are camels,> Blue growled with disgust. <Aren’t they supposed to spit and drool as much as little Nico on carrot day?>

Lance snickered.

“Here we dry the grain, then masticate it and preserve it in the cuspidors. When they are full, we carry them to the eye of the Evershadow and pour them in.”

“Ewww. Why?” Hunk groaned.

“To feed the spirit of the moon. To strengthen Him.”

“Okay, this guy is looney-tooney,” Lance muttered.

<Agreed,> Merla snorted.

Pidge glanced around the temple before her eyes landed on the ceiling. Her eyes widened as she spotted the giant white orb attached to the ceiling by claw-like ornaments. “Wait! Is that the pearl!?” she shouted, pointing at it.

<I wish,> Pua sighed.

The group all looked up and the stranger said, “Yes…”

“I knew it!” Pidge cheered. “The whole place is a map! Score one for Pidge!”

“… the pearl, the moon, the eye, time, life, all are the circle. Never ending, never broken.”

“Aw. Stupid symbolism.”

“Ok, this guy is  _ definitely _ looney-tooney,” Lance said, turning around and starting to walk off. “Let’s go look for the yalex.”

<I’m with him. Let’s go Keith!> Merla purred as she and Blue followed.

“You do not need to look for it. Can you not see the calendar? The Yalex comes soon.”

“How do you know when it’s coming?” Keith asked.

“Who told you this?” Shiro added.

“We follow the ways of the Haruspex. She tells us of the end times,” the priest said, setting his hand on the wall near the carving of a hooded woman. He moved away to grab a new container. “Come. Let us feed the moon spirit.”

“So this yalex, what is it?” Shiro asked.

“None living have seen the Yalex. Seeing the Yalex means death. The Yalex is the end of days.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” Hunk said.

<Ryou, this guy’s insane. Can’t Merla just tell them?> Chip whinned.

<Let them figure it out on their own.>

* * *

<Well, they figured it out on their own,> Chip growled, floating through the debris of what had once been Krell’s moon as the insect-like monstrosity that was the yalex crawled free of it’s egg at the satellite's center.

<Just get back your metallic form,> Ryou growled back. <Is everyone else alright? How are the paladins?>

_ “Is everyone okay? See if you can jetpack to your lions!” _

<Lance and I are okay.>

_ “Me and Hunk are okay!” _

<Hunk’s panicking, but fine. Same for me.>

_ “Speak for yourself! I’m alive, but  _ okay _ got blown up with that moon.” _

<I’ve got Keith.>

_ “I’m headed toward my lion, Shiro.” _

<Can I get some help over here?>

_ “Pidge! Are you out there?” _

<What’s wrong Chi- Oh.>

_ “I’m out here. And I’m not alone.” _

<Pidge needs help!> Blue and Merla both shouted.

Keith came into the Red Lion’s cockpit and froze as he spotted Pidge floating right in front of the yalex’s massive eyes.

_ “Shiro!” _ Lance shouted as one of the eyes began to glow.

The Black Lion shot forwards, swallowing up a screaming Pidge just as a laser shot out of the eye.  _ “I have Pidge. Taking her to Chip. Everyone get into formation,” _ Shiro called as they swerved around the yalex’s blasts.  _ “We have to take this thing out before it destroys planet Krell.” _

Keith, Lance, and Hunk flew over to where Ryou was handing Pidge off to Chip. As soon as she was ready, the five shot off in formation.

_ “Form Voltron!” _

Keith breathed deeply as the smells of Voltron settled around him. The scents of smoke, sea mist, paint, rain, books, grass, metal, soil, and cinnamon all flowing around him and leaving Keith feeling pumped for the fight to come.

_ “Now let’s get that yalex!” _

As they shot towards the yalex, they spotted it preparing another blast.  _ “Shields up!” _

A flicker of metal scented acknowledgment then their shield stood before them to take the blast. They screamed as the blast slammed into them, knocking them back.

<Ow!>

“This thing is too huge to fight! Our weapons don’t have any effect,” Keith pointed out as they shot a blast at the beast.

_ “If we take another direct hit, our shield is going to explode!”  _ Pidge shouted as they took part of a second blast on their shield.

_ “It can shoot out of every eye! We’re bound to get hit sooner or later!” _ Lance yelled back as they took evasive action.

_ “Run!” _ Hunk screamed. A cinnamon scented memory of the monster they’d faced on the Balmera flickered through their minds.  _ “Too many eyes!” _

“Wait a second,” Shiro muttered and they turned to look at the yalex. He looked closer at the eyes and his own widened. “The eye that is blind is most prized! The priest was right!”

<There we go!>

_ “I think we just lost Shiro,” _ Lance groaned.

“No, I know where the pearl is! It’s in the center of the yalex’s head! The white eye!”

_ “Oh, perfect. Let’s just go down there and get it,” _ Hunk said.

<Merla!>

_ “Yeah, I hate to say this, Shiro, but maybe it’s time we gave up.” _

They ducked behind a rock and Shiro said, “No! We can beat this thing, get that pearl, and save Coran! We just need a way to get in close.” He thought for a moment before asking, “Pidge, if Lance can form a layer of ice on our shield, could that act as a mirror to deflect the yalex’s lasers?”

_ “A few times, maybe, but then the heat will melt the ice.” _

_ “And we’ll all be cooked,” _ Hunk added with a whimper.

“Then we’ll have to be fast. Lance, split off and ice up that shield. Keith, Pidge is going to be handling defense, so you’re going to have to reach in and pluck out that big white eye.”

_ “You got it.” _

“Let’s go Voltron!”

He felt the friendly and energized presences dissipate, leaving an uncomfortable hole as the Blue Lion broke away to cover their shield in ice. Once the presences had returned they shot out from behind the rock and charged the yalex.

“Nice one, Pidge!” he cheered as their shield reflected the blasts away from them.

<Yes. No. Stop fighting. Blue gets credit too.>

“Almost there, get ready, Keith!”

They reached out for the pearl, but their shift in stance caused the shield to reflect the lasers back at the yalex.

“Uh-oh.”

**Kaboom!**

* * *

_ “So how much do you think a pearl this size would be worth on earth?” _ Pidge asked.  _ “I mean, it’s bigger than Voltron.” _

_ “It’s probably worthless. What would you even do with a pearl this size? It’s way too big for jewelry,” _ Keith pointed out.

_ “I’d carve it up into a house and live in it,” _ Lance stated immediately.  _ “I’d wake up feeling like a mermaid.” _

_ “I’m pretty sure if Mermaids did exist, which they don’t, they wouldn’t live in giant, hollowed out pearls.” _

_ “Pidge, we have magical alien cats! How could you doubt the existence of mermaids?” _

_ “I’m with her. Mermaids are just a hoax. It’s not like we’re talking about Mo-” _

Fear flooded Shiro. “Nope. We are not having this discussion right now,” Shiro said, cutting Keith off.

_ “What discussion?” _ Hunk asked.

“Nothing.”

_ “Shiro, it-” _

“Keith, we are not having this discussion. You and Matt wouldn’t talk to each other for a week after last time.”

_ “Oh my god!  _ You _ were the one who said Mothman was better than Nessie! You dick!” _

“Pidge, pl-”

_ “I said it and I meant it,” _ Keith snapped.

_ “So how about that yalex, huh?” _ Lance tried.

_ “The Loch Ness Monster is far more amazing. It’s legend is far older an-” _

_ “Geese Lance, what kind of can of worms did you open?” _ Hunk chuckled nervously.

_ “It’s a glorified plesiosaur! Moth-” _

“Guys, enough! This isn’t important,” Shiro groaned.

Lance scoffed.  _ “Yeah, it’s not like either of those are even real, so y-” _

“Oh no,” Shiro muttered. He leaned forwards and put his head in his hands.

Sympathy floated to him from Ryou.

_ “What did you just say!?” _

_ “How dare you! You come into my house!” _

_ “Well at least they’re not fighting with each other anymore,” _ Hunk said over the two’s yelling.

“Guys, please, can we do this some other time?” Shiro begged. “We need to get this pearl back so we can rescue Coran.”

_ “But he sa-” _

“Keith.”

_ “Fine, whatever.” _

_ “Yeah, sure. I’ll just toss Lance’s beauty supplies out the airlock when we get back to the castle.” _

_ “Try it you gremlin an-” _

“No one is tossing anything out of the airlock! Enough!”

<Merla, Blue, Control.>

_ “Blue agrees with me!” _

<BLUE!>

_ “How would you know. You said you can’t hear her!” _

“Keith! Lance!”

_ “It’s him, and I still have no idea what you’re talking about!” _

_ “Oh thank god!”  _ Hunk said as the gravy halo over the Fripping Bulgogian came into view.

“Alright team, let’s just focus on setting this big guy down carefully, alright?” Shiro asked.

Hesitant, annoyed agreement came from the impulsive, calculating, and energized presences while the guarded one pulsed with relieved, cheerful assent.

They dropped down through the atmosphere to land next to the tavern. They took a knee and slowly lowered the pearl to the ground.

Shiro shivered as the presences faded as Voltron broke apart and the team landed.

The paladins rushed towards the building where Coran and the Mu waited while the cats followed at a more sedate pace. They reached the steps just in time to hear Coran announce, “Successful training mission, paladins! Fried turtle scallions on me!”

<Can we get some of that sea-turkey?> Pua asked.

“That whole thing was a training mission?” Keith barked.

<Sea-turkey? Keith! Get me some!>

Keith shot her a glare while Pidge said, “We nearly got killed!”

<Yes, Lance, please! Sea-turkey!>

“Sea-turkey?” Lance muttered and Keith shot him a look.

“You didn’t have any fun? Last time we did this, Alfor got into some kind of board game with a lion thingy. He never stopped talking about it. Lance, you didn’t meet any girls?”

<No, but Pidge did!>

“Tell me about it,” Lance sighed.

Coran gave him a bemused look while Shiro looked from him, to Keith, then down at the cats, and back to Keith. “Oh.”

Meanwhile Keith had turned back to Coran and asked, “So you weren’t really in danger?”

“No, that was just to motivate you. But Krell was in danger from the yalex, and we knew Voltron was the only thing that could possibly stop it. And now Kythylian can sell the pearl and use the GAC to fight Zarkon.”

* * *

Merla purred as she ripped a chunk of meat off a leg of sea-turkey.

“Do you think it actually tastes like turkey?” Lance asked as he watched the cats with disgusted fascination.

<No, more like…> Blue trailed off, cocking his head.

<Lizard,> Merla purred. <It tastes like lizard mixed with frog.>

<Lizard?> Blue questioned before snapping at Chip, who had tried to grab one of his wings.

_ Lizard _ , Lance mouthed, nose scrunching up. He looked over at Keith, who was glaring at him. “What?”

<We lived in the desert. It was just a lot of lizards, snakes, rabbits, and roadrunners okay?>

“Nothing.”

Shiro glanced up and frowned at the beginnings of another argument. “Lance…”

The Blue Paladin flinched. “What? He started it!”

“Can I talk to you outside for a moment?”

“Stupid Keith,” Lance grumbled under his breath and got up to follow the Black Paladin.

Blue looked up, but Lance waved him off so he focused back in on his sea-turkey. Just in time to spot Chip sneaking off. <You little brat! Give that back!>

Shiro led the sulking teen out of the dining room where the team was having dinner, having returned to the castle once again.

“Can I just say-”

“Lance, you’re not in trouble.”

“Then why am I out here?”

“I need to ask… Can you hear Blue?”

“Can I- Did Keith set you up to this? Yes, for the last time, I can hear him! I’m not deaf!”

“Keith ask- Of course he asked you. No, look, obviously you can hear him, but can you… can you understand him?”

“Understand him?”

_ This would be so much easier if Keith wasn’t being so difficult, _ Shiro sighed. “Like, when he makes growls, you can actually understand what he’s saying. I mean, the same as how you said you did when you first flew Blue, just stronger. Like, as if he’s actually talking, I guess.”

Lance stared at him blankly.

“Look, I know it sounds crazy, bu- Lance where are you going?”

Shiro watched the boy run back into the dining room before taking chase. He slipped through the doorway just in time to see Lance drop to his knees in front of the tiger. “Uh, Lance…”

“Oh my god! Is it true? Say something!”

Blue just stared at his paladin.

“Lance, you feeling okay?” Hunk asked.

“Shiro, what’d you do to him?” Pidge snickered.

Shiro ran a hand down his face, then looked over at Keith. “I asked him about the thing.”

“The thing?”

“Say something, buddy!”

“Oh, that thing.”

Keith turned to look at Lance, who was nose to nose with Blue as they stared into each other's eyes.

“Speak,” Lance whispered.

Immediately Keith and Merla started laughing.

<By the Anodites! Blue, I think your paladin broke!>

<Merla, enough! Blue, say something already,> Ryou huffed.

<Like what? Wait, no, quiznak! Give me a second to think of something! This is an important moment!>

“Oh my god.”

<Quiznak!> Blue groaned.

<Great job, love.>

<Kiss a kwaila!>

“Oh my God! I thought I was just… I didn’t think… But it was… You can though! That’s amazing!”

“Alright, who let Lance at the nunvill?” Pidge teased.

“Would someone explain what’s going on?” Allura asked.

“Uh, yeah, seconded. Is Lance okay?” Hunk said, watching his friend throw his arms around Blue’s neck.

“Lance is fine, he’s just an idiot,” Keith snorted.

“Blue! You’re so amazing buddy! So amazing! The best! Dalia’s beagle has nothing on you! No! You’re purr-fect! Out of this world! You’re…”

“Yeah, but this is crazy, even for him,” Pidge said, watching the boy continue on complimenting and borderline flirting with the tiger, who was soaking it all up with pride.

Shiro looked over at Keith, who shrugged. The Black Paladin chuckled and sat back down at the table. “I’ll explain.”


	6. Hiss-tory Comes to Haunt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **_“I see you two are just as disgusting as you used to be.”_ **
> 
> <Maece!> Merla spat.
> 
> **_“It’s been a long time, my friend.”_ **

“This is incredible,” Pidge muttered, shifting through the information she and Hunk had gathered so far.

Chip purred in agreement as she watched her paladin work from where she was lying on her back on Rover, just above and behind the girl’s shoulder.

“Maybe…” Pidge started typing in a program to test the energy frequency in comparison to a scan done on a sample from the Balmera.

_ “Pidge, please come down to the detainment room.” _

Pidge groaned and Chip huffed at Coran’s call. The cat rolled over, but stayed on the drone while Pidge stood. The three traveled up to where they were holding Sendak. The others were already there, watching as Coran set up devices on the Galra’s container.

“Did you and Hunk get everything all fixed?” Pidge asked.

“Yes, it was mostly just a few circuits that had degraded after sitting around for so long,” Hunk answered for Coran.

“He’s not going to wake up, right?” Lance whispered.

“No, the process is easiest when the subject is unconscious,” Coran chipped in.

“How’s Allura?” Shiro asked.

“She was up visiting her father earlier, but now she’s resting.”

Pidge glanced around and frowned when she only saw Pua and Ryou, who Chip jumped down to join. “Where’s Merla and Blue?”

Keith’s mouth twitched into a smirk while Lance groaned. “Ryou’s making them patrol the castle because they fell asleep on guard duty, or something. I haven’t seen her in hours!”

_ So those two have been alone together, for hours, unsupervised? _ Pidge shared a look with Keith and could see he was thinking the same thing. Those two were definitely not patrolling.

She kept her mouth shut though, as did he.

“I still can’t get over the fact you two can talk to them. Like, really talk,” Hunk said, glancing over at Pua.

“Quite. The paladins of old never developed such a connection and they had deca-phoebs with the lions. We knew they were sentient, of course, but we never imagined they had this level of sapience!” Coran agreed.

“Maybe that was your problem. You didn’t give them a chance,” Keith pointed out.

Coran nodded. “That may be true. Your species seems far more at ease with attributing the most random of things with both sentience and sapience. Take Number Five’s little friend there.”

Pidge glared at the man and tucked Rover to her chest. “Rude! Don’t listen to him, Rover. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“You see. Ah, yes. Okay, guys, Sendak's almost all hooked up.”

* * *

<Ugh, this is stupid. The castle has alarms to tells us if there are intruders! Why do we have to patrol?> Merla whined for the hundredth time.

<You know your whining isn’t making the time go any faster, love,> Blue growled.

The cheetah huffed and looked away from the tiger. He eyes caught sight of the door to the bridge and her tail flicked. _  I know something that will pass the time. _ <Hey, do you hear that?>

<Hear what?>

<This way!> she hissed and darted into the bridge.

Blue followed at a more cautious pace, glancing around the bridge. She stopped a few paces in and cocked her head. <There’s no one here.>

<Exactly!> Merla purred. She jumped onto the tiger’s back and started nuzzling and licking her neck. <Just you and me!>

Blue snorted, but laid down so she could curl up with her soul-bound. <We are supposed to be patrolling.>

<We’ve been patrolling for forever. Break time!>

<Ryou’s going to be ticked.>

<Ryou doesn’t have to know.>

<We both know he’s going to find out.>

<Sh! Cuddle me!>

Blue snorted, but gave into the cheetah’s wishes. They stayed like that for a few minutes, cuddling and nuzzling and grooming one another until a laugh broke the silence.

**_“I see you two are just as disgusting as you used to be.”_ **

The two were instantly on their feet, growling at the figure that had appeared atop the control center. She appeared to be comprised out of pure energy, crafted into a vaguely feline like form with long curling ears and a tail like a comet’s. She was mostly gold, but with a fuchsia halo of energy floating over her head and matching designs seemingly carved into her, jagged like lightning. Her only other features were the two silver spots on her face in the place of eyes.

<Maece!> Merla spat.

**_“It’s been a long time, my friend.”_ **

<I am no friend of yours!>

<What are you doing here? How are you here?>

**_“No time to talk, unfortunately. Things to do. Organics to destroy. Until then!”_ ** the figure jumped over the two and passed through the door.

<Get back here you kwaila!> Merla hissed, taking chase. She got into the hallway, but didn’t see any sign of the figure.

<Merla, stop!>

<Stop?> Merla growled, turning to Blue. <Stop? Maece is here! We need to track her down and->

<And what? We are not strong enough to fight her like this! And you heard what she said! She’s targeting the organics.>

Merla froze. <Keith, the paladins, Allura, Coran.>

<Exactly. We need to find Ryou and the others.>

<Right, you go->

<No, we have a better chance against her if we stick together.>

<But…> Merla’s claws scraped against the floor. <Fine!>

Blue nodded and then took the lead as they ran down the hall in search of their paladins and pride.

They rushed down a set of stairs and Merla turned left. <I think Ryou is->

<LANCE!>

Merla jumped and turned to see Blue rushing off to the right. <Blue!> she called running to catch up. <What’s wrong?>

<Something’s wrong with Lance!>

<Maece?>

<I don’t know. He’s just really afraid. Come on!>

Merla nodded. She could feel Keith in the same area. He was more angry than scared, but the fear was still there.

They rushed down the halls as fast as they could and turned a corner just in time to see Keith get knocked down by the Gladiator while Lance wailed at him for help.

From inside the airlock.

<Lance!> Blue shouted as Merla ran forwards and jumped onto the Gladiator’s back.

“Thanks Merla. Lance, what are you doing in there?” Keith asked, taking a second to breath and turning to Lance.

“I need help! Because if you don’t get me out of here right now, I’m going to be sucked out into space!”

“ _ Three, two, one. Doors opening.” _

Keith’s eyes widened. He glance back at the Gladiator and shouted, “Blue, Merla, brace yourselves!” He slammed his hand on the airlocks door control and the door slid open. He just managed to grab Lance’s hand before the exterior door slid open and the hallway depressurized. Merla and Blue took cover behind a pillar while the Guardian they’d been fighting was sucked out the airlock. Keith pulled Lance in before shutting the door.

They collapsed to the ground and took a few deep breaths before Keith spun on Lance. “What were you doing out there?”

“Who was that guy?”

“He was trying to kill me!”

“Well, is he the Castle? Because that’s who’s trying to kill me!”

<The castle? We thought it was Maece,> Blue said as the cats came over to them.

<You sure it wasn’t Maece?> Merla agreed.

“Who?” Keith asked.

<An old enemy,> the two said at once.

“Well I didn’t see anyone. Just heard Coran calling for help and then the airlock shut me in.”

“I was just training when the gladiator turned homicidal.”

<That… doesn’t sound like Maece.>

Blue went still. <Maybe it wasn’t. We only saw her on the bridge and she just appeared. She didn’t talk like us and I thought it was just because of time, like Zylin, but she also didn’t respond to us either.>

<What are you saying?>

<I’m saying she might have just been the castle playing tricks on us like what happened to Keith and Lance.>

“What’s going on? What’s Blue saying?”

“She said that Mah-eh-see might have been the castle too. But how could the castle recreate someone from your memories?”

<We are connected to the castle. It has access to our memories,> Blue explained and Merla repeated it for Keith’s benefit.

“So, it really is the castle then?” Lance asked and they all shared a look.

<Not good,> Merla muttered.

The four took off running with a scream.

* * *

 Shiro glared at Sendak through the glass of the cryo-pod and behind him his liger did the same.

“What was the first rank you held in Zarkon's army?” he asked, getting more annoyed with every question that didn’t receive an answer. “Where did you find the Red Lion? … What is Zarkon's greatest weakness?”

**_“What makes you think you can possibly defeat him?”_ **

Both liger and human jerked at the sound of the Galra’s voice. They looked at Sendak, to see that he was still asleep.

<What was that? It sounded like his voice was coming from everywhere.>

Shiro glanced back at Ryou before turning back to the memory tube. “If you were to attack Zarkon, where would you strike?”

**_“Why strike at all when you can join him?”_ **

Shiro staggered backwards glancing around before focusing on Sendak with unseeing eyes.

Ryou growled and stepped up next to Shiro, but was hesitant to touch him. He could feel the fear and trauma clouding his paladins mind, but he didn’t know what to do to help except to send as much comfort and reassurance across their bond as he could. <Don’t listen, Shiro. You’re alright. I’m here.  _ You’re _ here. We’re safe. He’s locked away.>

Shiro began shaking and breathing heavily and Ryou’s heart ached.

<Shiro.>

* * *

 <Ugh, food goo tastes even worse on fur,> Pua groaned as he licked himself clean of the mess caused by the malfunctioning dispenser.

<I don’t care what Merla says, I miss kibble!> Chip huffed, licking at a particularly stubborn spot on her hip. <It tasted fine and didn’t make a mess.>

<Agreed. I hope Coran fi- Woah!>

The two cats blinked as they began to float into the air.

“Hunk, did you accidentally hit the anti-gravity switch?”

“Uh, no. There’s no anti-gravity switch. Uh, is there?”

They turned to see their paladins floating off in Pidge’s workspace near the Galran crystal.

<Should we help them?>

<Nah, Rover’s got it,> Chip replied as Rover flew up to Pidge’s side. <Coran wasn’t exaggerating when he said this place was busted.>

<Maybe we ought to land somewhere. You know, before the vital stuff starts acting up. Like life support.>

<Good point. Let’s find Blue or Merla after this and tell them to suggest it.>

“It’s not working!” The cats looked over to see that Pidge, with help from Rover, had floated over to the control panel.

“What do you mean it’s not working?”

“I mean, I’m flipping the switch and nothing’s happening. Gravity on, nothing. Gravity off, nothing.”

<Well that’s not good. How are we supposed to get down now?>

<Maybe we ca- Ah!> Chip yelped as the gravity suddenly returned.

“How can you guys be taking a nap while this castle is trying to kill us?” Lance snapped as he, Keith, Coran, Blue, and Merla walked through the doors that had just opened.

“Taking a nap? We’ve been floating around in zero G! You know how scary that is?”

“That’s not scary! That’s fun! I was almost ejected into space!”

“Well I got attacked by killer food…”

Pua nodded as his paladin continued on. <We’re still covered in the stuff!>

<Why didn’t you just phase it off?>

<Yeah, okay, see, Merla, the problem with that is that it’s an excellent idea that I wished I’d thought of a half hour ago,> Chip growled before the two phased the food off.

“Well, I had a robot trying to kill me! And them two got attacked by some villain from their past!”

<Villain?> Pua asked.

<Maece. Don’t worry, we’re  _ pretty sure _ she was just the castle,> Merla huffed.

<Yikes.>

<I wouldn’t even call it an attack. She just showed up, said some ominous stuff then disappeared,> Blue snorted.

“Sendak? Wait. Has anyone seen Shiro?”

The cats all shared a look.

<Oh man, if Maece  _ is _ running around,> Pua whined.

<We need to find Ryou.>

The entire group rushed off towards the detainment room. When they reached it, Shiro was sitting against a memory tube with his arms wrapped around Ryou’s neck, shaking.

“Shiro, are you okay?” Pidge asked as they ran up.

“Where’s Sendak?” Keith asked, looking around.

“I-I had to get him out of here. I w-was hearing his voice. He-he can’t be trusted on this ship,” Shiro stuttered, looking up.

Ryou whined and pressed closer to his chest.

“It is the ship! I got stuck in a cryo-pod, then in an airlock. Keith got attacked by a robot, Blue and Merla saw some chick named Mah-eh-see, and Hunk and Pidge and their cats got attacked by food. It’s been a weird morning.”

<Maece?> Ryou asked, just barely holding back a growl for Shiro’s sake.

<She wasn’t real, we don’t think. Something’s wrong with the castle,> Blue explained.

<Very,> he huffed, turning back to his paladin.

A beeping started up and the group looked over to see a warning up above the door.

“What? How is that possible?”

“What is it?” Keith questioned, turning to Coran.

“The ship is starting a wormhole jump!”

The castle shook as they entered the wormhole and Shiro got to his feet. “We need to get to the bridge.”

Suddenly the screen went to static and laughter echoed through the room. The screen switched to a view of each of the lions’ hangers. Fuchsia, amorphous creatures were inside, trashing the hangers while the figure from before watched on from the Black Lion’s hanger.

Maece laughed again before turning to the camera.  **_“Have you enjoyed my fun so far?”_ **

<Maece!> Ryou roared.

**_“Hello, my love! I’ve missed you so much! Won’t you come play with me?”_ ** The screen shut off.

“My love?” Hunk asked.

“I’ve seen those monsters before,” Coran said, looking ill.

“We don’t have time for this. Keith, Hunk, Lance, you three head down to the hangers. Pidge, you come with Coran and I to the bridge.”

“Right.”

Ryou nudged Shiro’s hand and he looked down. Their eyes met and he nodded. “Go with them.”

Ryou nodded and the group split up.

* * *

Lance slowly snuck up to the door of Blue’s hanger. He held up his bayard and took a deep breath. He slammed his hand on the door’s control and darted inside. “Take this you… monsters?” Lance’s war cry trailed off and he lowered his bayard. “Uh, hey guys, Blue’s hanger is empty. No sign of monsters or star cats.”

_ “Same for Pua’s. It doesn’t look like anyone’s been here either,” _ Hunk agreed.

A growl sounded behind him and Lance jumped with a shriek. He spun around, only to find a grumpy Ryou at the other end of his blaster.

“Geese Ryou! Don’t scare me like that!”

_ “What was that scream?” _

_ “I think that was Lance. You okay bro?” _

“I’m fine. It was just Ryou and Pua,” Lance sighed. “I’m guessing you guys came up empty too?”

Ryou growled and clawed at the ground.

“Yeah, thought so.”

_ “Merla and Blue just got here. The red and green hangers are empty too,” _ Keith announced.

_ “What gives? How’d they all just disappear?” _ Hunk groaned.

“Because they were never here! The castle’s messing with us again! It split us up!” Lance shouted.

_ “Quiznak!” _

_ “We need to get back to the others!” _

Lance nodded and he, Pua, and Ryou started to race out of the hangers.

_ “Team!” _

_ “Shiro? We’re here. There’s no one down here,” _ Keith called.

“It was a trap!” Lance added.

_ “That makes sense. Allura’s piloted us towards a star that’s about to blow.” _

_ “WHAT!?” _

_ “No time to explain. Get to the lions. We’re going to try and slow down the ship while Allura fixes the problem with the castle.” _

_ “Alright, Shiro. Lance, sending Blue your way.” _

“And I’m sending Pua and Ryou.” Lance turned to the cats and nodded. “Shiro and Hunk need you.”

The two growled and disappeared.

* * *

“You know, speaking of Voltron,” Pidge spoke up as the group headed out of the bridge. “What was with the evil-cat-star-thing? Where’d she come from?”

“Blue said the castle is connected to the lion’s memories,” Lance said.

“Wait, they’re not gonna go crazy like the castle, right?” Hunk whimpered.

Pua chuffed and nuzzled his side. <Don’t worry. Our quintessence is stronger than any computer virus.>

“Well that sounded comforting. Good. Back to what I was saying though, who was she? Coran, you said you’d seen her monsters before.”

“Yes, and I had hoped to never see them again,” Coran sighed, adjusting his grip on the princess. “I don’t have a clue about the lions’ little friend though.”

<She is no friend of ours!> Merla hissed at the man, causing him to jump.

“I don’t think  _ friend _ is the right word,” Keith explained.

<Maece was the monsters’ creator and commander,> Blue growled and Lance repeated it for the others.

<Alright, I think that’s enough reminiscing,> Merla spat. <She’s gone now and she won’t ever be coming back, so it doesn’t matter.>

Blue huffed an agreement and nuzzled the cheetah as they left down a side hall.

Keith told them what she’d said and Pidge frowned. “What, but I still have more que-”

“Pidge,” Shiro said, setting his hand on her shoulder. “Leave it alone, okay. We don’t need to be stirring up bad memories. And I don’t think this… Macy is something any of them want to think about.”

The girl glanced over at Chip, whose ears were pinned to her head, and nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

“Good, now come on. I think we could all use a break after all this excitement.”

Chip watched the paladins for a moment before slipping over to nip at Ryou’s tail. When the liger turned to her, she slowed down so she fell to the back of the group.

Ryou quickly followed. <Chip, what is it?>

<Maece. She is gone, right?>

Ryou sighed and pressed close to her. <Yes, we locked her away. She’s gone forever.>

<That’s what we thought the first time.>

Ryou flinched and ducked his head. <That was different. The chances of that happening again… It’s not possible.>

<I hope you’re right.>

_ Me too. _


End file.
